IndiaChain: Parsing the Indian government’s blockchain fetish

As the government explores blockchain solutions under ‘IndiaChain’ while actively rejecting cryptocurrencies, one must ask if this is an informed decision or mere lip service to an over-hyped technical term du jour

The recent Budget speech from the Finance Minister signalled a strong intent to explore blockchain while ruling out cryptocurrencies

But by its very design, blockchain is saddled with several generic disadvantages around efficiency, scalability and costs

Here, we look at the first blockchain solution that has been announced—the proposal to issue blockchain-based academic certificates from IIT Delhi

But how would such a blockchain system work? And would it be safe?

Our Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, delivered his annual Budget speech on 1 February. The only technological aspect that Mr Jaitley covered in his speech related to a “hot” topic, one that is all the raging topic du jour in startup circles all over the world—cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

While Jaitley seemed to sound a veritable death knell to all the cryptocurrency startups operating in India by stating that the government didn’t consider cryptocurrencies as “legal tender” or “as part of the payment system”, he indicated that the government is planning to adopt “blockchain technology for ushering in a digital economy.”

A subsequent report said that Niti Aayog, the government think-tank, has been tasked with bringing in blockchain solutions under the aegis of an initiative called “IndiaChain”, billing it as “the country’s largest blockchain network”.

AUTHOR

Sumanth Raghavendra

Sumanth is a serial entrepreneur with more than eighteen years experience in running startups. He is currently the founder of Deck App Technologies, a Bangalore-based startup attempting to re-imagine productivity software for the Post-PC era. Sumanth’s columns appear regularly in leading publications. He holds MBA degrees from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, USA.

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